BBC Worldwide reveals slate of music documentaries for 2017

MUMBAI: Ahead of their annual BBC Worldwide Showcase event, BBC Worldwide has announced an outstanding line-up of music documentaries for 2017. Music enthusiasts can look forward to delving into the worlds of some of music’s most iconic players including David Bowie, Nile Rodgers and Bruce Springsteen.

The music slate for 2017 is made up of several stand out documentaries: ‘David Bowie: The Last Five Years’, ‘Bruce Springsteen: In His Own Words’, ‘Nile Rodgers: Lost in Music’ and ‘Dame Shirley Bassey: A Celebration’.

Following the recent success of ‘David Bowie: The Last Five Years’ in the UK, BBC Worldwide has confirmed global sales of the documentary to HBO in North America, ABC in Australia, VRT in Belgium, ZDF for Arte Germany and France, NPO in Holland, RUV in Iceland, Yes in Israel, NRK in Norway, Viacom in Italy, Telefonica in Spain, YLE in Finland and SVT in Sweden.

The documentary, directed by Francis Whately, is a celebration of the last five years of David Bowie’s life with a detailed look at albums ‘The Next Day’ and ‘Blackstar’ and also the musical ‘Lazarus’.

BBC Worldwide director of factual Mark Reynolds said, “We are pleased to be announcing our music slate for Showcase 2017 and confirm the stellar line up of musicians that audiences around the world can look forward to watching in our documentaries. Music fans will be granted exclusive access into the world of some of the most influential and iconic artists.”

The announcement was made at BBC Worldwide’s annual TV sales event, BBC Worldwide Showcase in Liverpool (19th to 22nd February 2017). Now in its 41st year, BBC Worldwide Showcase is the world’s largest international television market hosted by a single distributor and is attended by top TV buyers, award-winning producers and on-screen talent.

As the largest distributor of TV programming outside of the US, BBC Worldwide Showcase sees the BBC’s commercial arm generate programme sales on behalf of the BBC and independent producers providing a major boost to British television exports.